Step plate



F. H. STANWOOD.

STEP PLATE.

APPLICATlON FILED OCT 24,1919.

Pateilted Mar. 7, 1922.

ram n. srANwoon. or CHICAGO, COMPANY, or cmcneo,

STEP PLATE.

Application filed Octgber 24, 1919. serial 1T0.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK H. STANWOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Step Plates, of which the folowing is a specification.

his invention relates in general to safety step plates for automobile running boards and has more particular reference to plates of this character composed largely of rubber and from which rubber ribs extend up to be engaged by the foot of persons entering or leaving the automobile, to revent slipping and also to clean the shoes 0 such persons on entering car. a I have found that plates of this character are most effective when the ribs are arranged in upstanding isolated relation and preferably in parallelism. H

owever they may be constructed and argreatest wear under normal conoccurs at the outer front and back edges of the plate, and my. present invention has for a principal object the construction of the ribs to prevent wear at the edges of the late shortening the life of the plate.

M y invention contemplates the accomplishment of this purpose through the formation of the edge ribs or edge ribbing in such this edge ribbing may sustain pparent or actual rapid deterioration. This is accomplished by form- A a fashion to resist the b ing the edge ribs in wear and also in a fashion to distribute the wear over the other ribs i.- e. the ribs 10- cated well within the interior of the plate.

ribs are provided in tends to tear the ribs from the plate is, of course, felt at the edges of the plate and my present invention has for a further 1m rtant object the provision of edge ribs shaped to counteract this b ersons stepping upon the plate in enteriii g and leaving the automobile.

Another highly important object is the construction of the edge ribs so that'danger of slipping will be minimized.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a step plate having these and other Specification of Letters Patent.

' shpping when stepping close Patented Mar. 7, 1922. 338,094.

advantages which may be readily positioned without special tools or directions upon the running board of any of the standard automobiles. i I Numerous objects and advantages of the lnvention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description which considered in connection with the accompanylng drawings, illustrates an embodiment thereof.

eferring to the drawin Figure 1. is a perspective view of a step plate embodying my present invention;

Fig. 2. is a partial plan view thereof: gig. 3. is a partial front to back section; an

Fig. 4. is a partially longitudinal section taken between interior ribs.

A step plate embodying my invention for the purpose of illustration, comprises an in- In ber coating 12, which is preferably ulcanized thereto. This vulcanization is probably best accomplished by providing a film or coating of copper upon the plate which causes the vulcanization of the rubber material to bond tightly to the plate.

Upstanding isolated ribsin parallelism and extending up from the coating above the plate. These ribs are preferably of rectangular cross section and cover by far the major portion of the plate.

These thickened." ribs l4 are preferably corru ated on their upper surfaces so that in e ect a number of ribs is provided. at each side.

This rib construction accom lishes among others these important resu ts. It minimizes the effect of wear. It minimizes the opportunity for damaging the plate through the tearing of the edge ribs loose and it. minimizes the danger of the foot of the user to or on the plate edge,

The wear is minimized in several fashions, there is a 'wide wearing surface provided, and by reason of the shape of this surface being nearly parallel with the sole of the 13 are arranged In the edge. of the shoe stepping onit, there is less tendency for,

- the foot to ruboyer t'he rubber and the pressure put evenly on the interior ribs as the erson. enters the car.

The danger of tearing loose the ribs is also minimized m'several fashions; the edge rib whichw'ould ordinarily receive th e greater strain is given a stronger and wider holding power by reason of the vulcanization, than is given the interior ribs; and by reason of the shape of the exterior ribs the strainsare applied more nearly at right angles to the metal plate, or at least at right angles to the J engagement by greater width of the rib, moreover the character of the engagement between the foot and the edge rib is such as to protect the interior ribs from tearing loose. I r

, The'danger of slipping isn inimized by reason of the fact that, a surface quite or nearly parallel to the foot is presented for the foot with a greatly in-- creased frictional holding power. It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing without further description and it will be manifest that Van-'- ous changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, thejorm hereinbefore de,

scribed bein merely a preferred embodiment thereo I claim:

1. A safety step tread for automobiles and the like, comprisin a yielding resilient base isolated longitudinal ribs adapted to yield and cling to the sole of the shoe, said base having along its front relatively wider edge rib formed with a yielding cushioning surface which is inclined forwardly and and is provided with longitudinal corrugations on its inclined siirface.

2. A safety step tread for automobiles and the like, comprising a yielding resilient base of soft material, formed with upstanding isolated longitudinal ribs adapted to yield and cling to the sole. of the shoe, said base having along its front a relatively wider of soft materiab ormed with upstanding vdownwardly towards the edge of the step 

